Silicon Valley

Khane · Apr 25, 2017

Still missing the mark. I'm thinking his plan is more along the lines of removing cell providers from the picture completely. He wants to use the hardware on the phones, not the carrier's data networks. He wants to remove the carriers from the picture entirely.

The P2P observation made earlier is likely what he has in mind.

To me what makes this show so realistic is not that they come up with new technology ideas that are plausible. It's that you have a smart, socially awkward dude with grand designs on changing the world with his amazing idea only to find out that nobody wants his "amazing" idea. They want fucking video chat.

So what's probably going to happen is he is going to come up with a plausible way to change the internet (in theory) and it's going to end up being pared down into something the world actually wants/needs. Something like a much faster/cheaper intranet for companies and corporations to cut costs with.

kegkilla · Apr 25, 2017

Khane said:
Still missing the mark. I'm thinking his plan is more along the lines of removing cell providers from the picture completely. He wants to use the hardware on the phones, not the carrier's data networks. He wants to remove the carriers from the picture entirely.

The P2P observation made earlier is likely what he has in mind.

you can't form a P2P network without a method for devices to talk to each other, which can't be done without the carrier networks, unless you're on wifi, in which case you're using the internet so the whole point is moot.

Khane · Apr 25, 2017

kegkilla said:
you can't form a P2P network without a method for devices to talk to each other, which can't be done without the carrier networks, unless you're on wifi, in which case you're using the internet so the whole point is moot.

Keg, every device has the capability to talk to other devices without the internet. Radios existed long before the internet. Bluetooth exists without the internet. You can create a home network where all your devices can talk to each other without the internet. WiFi is NOT the internet. The internet just facilitates WiFi.

kegkilla · Apr 25, 2017

Khane said:
Keg, every device has the capability to talk to other devices without the internet. Radios existed long before the internet. Bluetooth exists without the internet. You can create a home network where all your devices can talk to each other without the internet. WiFi is NOT the internet. The internet just facilitates WiFi.

cell phones are not radios. bluetooth has a range of about 10 feet and requires devices to be paired. i'm well aware of what a LAN is. i'm also well aware that it requires a network backbone to work.

Khane · Apr 25, 2017

You're not looking at the bigger picture. Pretty much everyone has a cellphone and or mobile device of some sort these days. Those would be the network backbone. There are obvious flaws but it's feasible (in areas with a denser population).

Hard to wrap our heads around with current technology but that's what technology basically is. It's fucking magic until someone comes along who can help us wrap our heads around it.

I mean that's not the point of the show anyway. Spronk already said it. The show is about Richard being book smart but business stupid and not understanding how the world works. I think the writers will do a good job with the new internet theme.

BrutulTM · Apr 25, 2017

I think it would also be reasonable to expect that if the entire internet was restructured, AT&T might consider changing their data plans.

Either way, they haven't even vaguely explained the idea and as Ambiturner said, it's not going to be a realistic idea regardless or someone would be doing it for real. Critiquing it here is just whacking off to show that you know something about networking. No one thought it was a real plan before you guys explained how it wouldn't work.

kegkilla · Apr 25, 2017

Khane said:
You're not looking at the bigger picture. Pretty much everyone has a cellphone and or mobile device of some sort these days. Those would be the network backbone. There are obvious flaws but it's feasible (in areas with a denser population).

Hard to wrap our heads around with current technology but that's what technology basically is. It's fucking magic until someone comes along who can help us wrap our heads around it.

I don't think you understand what a "network backbone" is. there is nothing inside current cell phones that would allow them to P2P with each other without being on a network. it's not "fucking magic" it's impossible.

kegkilla · Apr 25, 2017

BrutulTM said:
I think it would also be reasonable to expect that if the entire internet was restructured, AT&T might consider changing their data plans.

Either way, they haven't even vaguely explained the idea and as Ambiturner said, it's not going to be a realistic idea regardless or someone would be doing it for real. Critiquing it here is just whacking off to show that you know something about networking. No one thought it was a real plan before you guys explained how it wouldn't work.

the point is that through the first three seasons the plot points were pretty believable and grounded in reality which lent some credibility to the show's writing. the compression algorithm, the video app are not outside the realm of possibilities. the "new internet" is, however, is total bunk and forces me to look at the show in a different way.

Khane · Apr 25, 2017

BrutulTM said:
I think it would also be reasonable to expect that if the entire internet was restructured, AT&T might consider changing their data plans.

Either way, they haven't even vaguely explained the idea and as Ambiturner said, it's not going to be a realistic idea regardless or someone would be doing it for real. Critiquing it here is just whacking off to show that you know something about networking. No one thought it was a real plan before you guys explained how it wouldn't work.

Richard even said something along the lines of "I don't know I haven't really thought it through, it may not even be possible" in the episode.

spronk · Apr 25, 2017

its not total bunk. right now you can create a hotspot with your phone for your laptop if your in a hotel. the hotspot creates a new wifi network, lets call it SJW, and uses your mobile network as the WAN interface and allows ANY other device to connect to the internet over your SJW wifi (lets say there is no password), essentially turning your phone into a router. You could do the same with bluetooth and NFC, although the range would be much shorter than wifi.

Well, you could just ignore the mobile WAN part and have your phone turn into a router that only sees other phones within, say 40-75 feet of you, and all the phones would talk to each other over this ad hoc SJW wifi and share information. All you need is an app that creates a hotspot, and there are tons of those already, and also allows the phones to share data over this ad hoc hotspot, which of course is a massive security risk. in theory you could build a massive network across a city, just playing a digital version of telephone by having phones within range of each other. it would be incredibly stupid of course and gaps would create islands of Internet2 that have no connectivity to anywhere else and while your Wifi is sharing its network you wouldn't be able to use actual wifi but again, the point of the show is not this cool thing TV writers made but just an idea to run comedy through.

I hope they put in an easter egg at some point to the internet2 idea, like they did for the season 1 compression algorithm
Pied Piper's Compression Code From HBO's Silicon Valley, Compiled

Thorpe · Apr 25, 2017

Chukzombi · Apr 25, 2017

the bathroom office killed me. i once had a desk that was next to the men's room and near an exit. so in winter i got both a gust of cold air when the door was opened and a gust of somebody taking a shit. i quit there. ned ryerson will quit too.

TJT · Apr 25, 2017

Khane said:
I'm not sure you guys who are saying data usage would skyrocket are understanding what this show has been about since the beginning.

Richard's outrageous data compression algorithm.

Well obviously. Point being that if a magical data compression algorithm did exist like that then it would very obviously be worth billions overnight. Not sure of the value of this mcguffin just yet.

Chukzombi · Apr 25, 2017

people have been talking about a new internet for years now, moreso after we just gave away our internet to the UN. the problems being discussed here about richard's idea will no doubt show up in the TV show, but since ya knoiw this is the first episode in a season long or more story arc, then maybe they didnt want to throw everything at it at once.

TJT · Apr 25, 2017

Chukzombi said:
people have been talking about a new internet for years now, moreso after we just gave away our internet to the UN. the problems being discussed here about richard's idea will no doubt show up in the TV show, but since ya knoiw this is the first episode in a season long or more story arc, then maybe they didnt want to throw everything at it at once.

The new internet people talk about is fixing the fundamental structure of the current internet. Mainly the IP Address limitation problem.

velk · Apr 25, 2017

kegkilla said:
cell phones are not radios.

What? Of course they are, that's literally the core of how they work.

Black_Death · Apr 26, 2017

There are some "secure" chat clients that use mesh (bluetooth, wifi direct, bluetooth LE) to communicate without any actual internet or cell signal. This could be an extension of that concept with the "Internet" potentially distributed and compressed onto individual devices scattered around a metropolitan area. Based on how many people you are around, it would drive the number of hops you had to go through to get to the content you wanted.

Mesh networking made easy and more specifically Start Something

Then again, it is a TV show, so they can pretty much do whatever they want.

Breakdown · Apr 26, 2017

So what's happens when the striping and distribution of data leads you out of range of someone with what you are requesting?

Kiroy · Apr 26, 2017

Gunnar said:
So what's happens when the striping and distribution of data leads you out of range of someone with what you are requesting?

New tech extends range via magnetosphere.

Black_Death · Apr 26, 2017

Gunnar said:
So what's happens when the striping and distribution of data leads you out of range of someone with what you are requesting?

The mesh technology finds you a new route to that node. Assuming you are within 100m of a node and that node is within 100m of another node, your mesh rapidly expands to hit a shitload of people in a metro area.

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